(The following was co-authored with legal associate Matt Gilliam.)

Today, Governor Jerry Brown and U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar formally announced the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. The BDCP is a controversial multi-billion dollar project aimed at fixing California's ongoing "water war" over the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta.

The Atlantic has a thought-provoking piece out today, "How to Protest the Major Parties Without Throwing Away Your Vote", where the author proposes two main options for making a mark outside the two-party system:

Yesterday, Vice President Joe Biden issued an embargo for his on-the-record press call, asking that reporters do not publish anything about the call until it's over. This includes Twitter, forcing journalists to wait to post live updates on the social stream. The reason? Journalists got to ask questions at the end of Biden's remarks, giving him the chance to clarify any questions before it's in print.

An email from the White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest reads:

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney made waves earlier this year by referring to Russia as the United States' "number one geopolitical foe". The Romney campaign appears once again stuck in a Cold War-era mindset, as a top foreign policy adviser for the presidential hopeful referred to Russia as the Soviet Union at a talk at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C. today. The comment comes just as Gov. Romney is set to depart on an international tour with stops to England, Poland and Israel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HG4E2kEDuy4

Mark your calendars! The Commission on Presidential Debates has released the presidential debate schedule, and over the course of October, the presidential candidates will debate three times, with a vice presidential debate between the selected nominees. Each debate will be 30 minutes and moderators will be announced by the commission in August.